My first month at Adaptable

Interview and hiring

I had a unique perspective heading into my role of Marketing Manager at adaptable. I had worked with Olly and Dan years ago, on a website project. That time I was the client (or the business I worked for was, I wasn’t that important) and they were still a small 3-person team. Having moved away from our more established web partner to work with adaptable, I remember distinctly being personally really impressed with their professionalism and processes. I don’t think you could’ve known at that point that they’d only be going about 2 years. And I’m really pleased to say they’ve clearly gone from strength-to-strength since then.

As I already knew Dan fairly well, my interview process was probably slightly different to the usual. I believe there’s usually an initial “chemistry” call or meeting to feel out whether it’s a good fit. As me and Dan had worked together previously, we just had a quick catch up to make sure neither of us had turned into a massive d**k over the years. Thankfully we hadn’t, and I was invited in to present some ideas around a marketing plan for adaptable’s future vision. Overall this process was really transparent and not drawn out. Dan came back to me when he said he would, and luckily for me it was good news in the form of a job offer.

Onboarding

On my first day in the studio, I was – to my horror, I’ve been using Windows for a decade – greeted with my very own MacBook. Once I’d figured out how to login, I got set up on the various channels and platforms so I could immediately plug in to what was going on in the studio. Following this I had an onboarding session with Dan, where he took me through the history of the business so far, recent wins, current projects, goals and strategy for the coming year (it had just been year-end) and initial thoughts on the direction for marketing. Following this, I had a discussion with Tom and Dan W, two of our engineers, about one of the projects they had been working on. As I mainly work with Dan day-to-day, that was it for my “structured” onboarding discussions, but I immediately felt comfortable that I could speak up in the studio and ask questions (mainly “how do I do xxxx on a Mac?”).

Culture and all that good stuff

I know it can be a bit of a cliche in this industry, but I can honestly say that my immediate impression of the culture of adaptable, and one that’s been strengthened over the first month, is that it’s so open and friendly. Everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing and we all just get on with it, and have fun with each other while we’re doing it. I know that sounds a bit vomit-inducing, but I have worked in businesses before where everyone is just miserable, or they’re messing about because there’s no clear direction or enthusiasm for the work.

I’m a bit of a lone wolf within the structure of the business – I’m not a dev or a designer, I don’t fit into a particular team. But I’ve never once felt like that – I was immediately added to the team WhatsApp group, running jokes were explained to me, I didn’t feel siloed or isolated. For me, coming off the back of the lonely life of freelancing, this has been so refreshing and so important. It also means that it makes my job – talking about what a great company adaptable is – that much easier.

What I’ve been working on

From a “project” perspective, I’ve been working on the overarching marketing strategy, and bringing a bit of process and order to adaptable’s own marketing. Something which, because there was previously no dedicated person and everyone was focused on delivering fantastic client work, had been a bit of an afterthought. I’m really glad to have been bought in at an exciting time for the business when we have plenty to talk about and even more exciting things to come. And as I said, I think we’re a business worth shouting about.

Fancy joining me and the team at adaptable? As well as all the good stuff I’ve just talked about, there’s monthly socials, an annual retreat and Friday breakfasts, we also offer a whole host of great benefits including healthcare plans, additional learning contributions and a peer recognition scheme.